REVISITING THE JOURNEY
‘Cliffs of Dover’ guitarist Eric Johnson bringing tour to NHCC
Eric Johnson is used to life on the road. So, what did the legendary guitarist do during the pandemic, which kept him off the road for more than two years?
“I didn’t know at first,” he says during an interview while in Ventura, California. “Then I got to thinking about the music that I have in my library that is unfinished. There was a lot to go through. I took on that project.”
Johnson was able to emerge with two albums — “The Book of Making” and “Yesterday Meets Today” — each album has nine tracks each.
He is touring again and will make a stop at the National Hispanic Cultural Center on Saturday, March 4.
The Grammy-winning, multi-genre guitarist took inventory — both emotionally and musically — delving into the many unfinished tracks, outtakes, demos, and sonic ideas in his archive to compile the 18 songs that ultimately ended up on the albums.
“I started pulling these recordings out of the vault at my studio. Some were professionally done, some were just scratch tapes, some were rehearsal recordings on cassette,” Johnson explains. “The music spanned 25 years of personal creations, thoughts and ideas that remained unfinished for many years.”
This will be Johnson’s first tour in three years.
He’s currently adjusting to life back on the road.
“We’ve been out for a few weeks and it’s just like riding a bike,” he says. “The most difficult part is keeping up with all of it.”
Johnson says when he went into his music vault, there were many pieces of music to choose from.
He picked 30 pieces and then whittled it down to 25.
“I then had about 18 songs and recorded some new stuff,” he says. “There are a number of albums’ worth of material there. It was kind of interesting to have the opportunity to revisit my journey in music.”
The guitarist, whose 1990 single “Cliffs of Dover” off his “Ah Via Musicom” album won the Grammy for Best Rock Instrumental Performance (he’s been nominated 10 times), has never shied away from a challenge.
With over 10 full-length albums since 1986, Johnson plays electric, acoustic lap steel and other guitars, moving flawlessly among rock, blues, jazz fusion, soul, folk, new-age, classical and country genres. The Austin native, who began playing professionally in the mid-’70s, was also a session guitarist for Cat Stevens, Carole King and others.
“Every time I make a record, I usually end up making two records; stashing away some of the pieces I didn’t use in the vault,” Johnson explains.
Over his storied career, Johnson has learned to let go of perfectionist tendencies if something more raw might serve the song better.
“Most of the pieces are a combination of older recordings with new work on them for a rainbow of different moments from past to present,” he says of the songs on “The Book of Making” and “Yesterday Meets Today.”
“You kind of have to remake a part of yourself, beliefs you’ve had for a lot of years. It’s very empowering, and very good, but it can be kind of scary.”